MOONLIGHT AND DAYBREAK 221 



anger, against those he would have given his 

 life to shield from harm. 



Men who have neither feared nor cared for 

 anything, taking refuge in a manly stoicism, 

 have turned away, completely broken down 

 at the sight of such a deathbed. 



Yes, Ephraim Tranter was passing away ; 

 but those who had known him best could see 

 that he was full of thought, and that his eyes 

 rarely left the face of his wife, the only being 

 on the face of God's earth, as he once had 

 flashed out, who understood him, or from whom 

 he would ask advice. Faults he might have 

 had ; but under a stern exterior was veiled a 

 passionate love for his wife that was hers alone. 



With loving eyes, that were yet tearless, she 

 watched, for she knew his time was near, 

 and she thanked God in her heart that she 

 alone would see him go, and that none but 

 herself would close his eyes. She had been a 

 friend to him as well as a wife, self-reliant, 

 ready to share in his struggle against the 

 troubles that life brings. In his inward life, 

 the world apart, she had from the first been 

 his consoler and his guide. 



Changes come when day breaks. Those 

 who have watched by the dying know the 



